The final face-off of the world chess championship in London lasted more than three hours, and Sadiya Ahmad watched nearly every move from a seat at the St. Louis Chess Club.
She’s a member of the club where Fabiano Caruana, the second-highest ranked chess player in the world, competes in tournaments. On Wednesday, she stared intently at a large TV screen showing a livestream of the match in which Caruana, 26, fought to become the first American since Bobby Fischer in 1972 to achieve the title of world champion.
“I want him to win. I’m praying very, very hard that he wins,” said Ahmad, a graduate student at St. Louis University studying computer science.
But Magnus Carlsen, a Norwegian grandmaster, successfully defended his world title for the third time on Wednesday, besting Caruana in rapid tiebreaker games that followed 50 hours of play that ended without a winner.
After their three-week match ended in 12 draws, Carlsen wrapped up victory quickly with three straight wins to build an unassailable lead in the best-of-four rapid format. The tiebreakers were played with 25 minutes for each player per game, while the 12 previous classical-style games lasted up to seven hours each.
“I was hoping to play my best chess today, but I didn’t even come close to that,” said Caruana, who was born in Miami, raised in Brooklyn and lives in St. Louis. “I felt a lot of pressure, but I don’t think I had added pressure because I was the first American challenger in a long time. I think the match naturally comes with a lot of pressure.”
Those who know Caruana in St. Louis cheered for him Wednesday, although the odds were not his favour. Carlsen, 27, has been the world’s top-ranked player since age 19.
“How’s he doing?” asked Lt. Dan Zarrick, a St. Louis police officer who also works a security job at the chess club when off-duty, as he popped inside the Central West End chess club to check on the game.
Zarrick, who had followed the championship play online in recent weeks, described Caruana, who’s known affectionately as Fabi, as a humble, nice guy.
Among those who watched the championship Wednesday at the club was its benefactor Rex Sinquefield, the retired investor who had a big part in bringing Caruana here to St. Louis.
“This is bigger than the founding of St. Louis,” Sinquefield quipped of Caruana’s success in making it to the world championship.
The livestream showed a play-by-play of the game led by chess grandmasters Jennifer Shahade, Yasser Seirewan and Maurice Ashley, who meticulously dissected each move from a broadcast studio in the club’s basement with commentary that rivalled the buoyancy and colour of any network sports broadcaster.
“You gotta play some funky moves,” said Ashley, saying it doesn’t work to play “trash” against a guy like Carlsen.
Tony Rich, the club’s executive director, was in London for the championship, providing live relays of each move to be included in the livestream with their analyses.
“It’s way above me,” said Ross Larson of Bridgeton, who recently retired and is playing chess after decades away from the game, of the complex play he saw on the chess club’s screen.
Larson said he was glad for the attention that Caruana was bringing to the chess scene in St. Louis, and that spotlight isn’t expected to wane.
Sinquefield is among those who thinks Caruana will still be dominating the game when the next world championship rolls around in 2020.
“Fabi is not going anywhere,” Sinquefield said. “He’ll be back in two years.”
Wednesday’s championship was the third time Carlsen has successfully defended his title after winning it from Viswanathan Anand of India in 2013. By dominating the tiebreakers, the Norwegian justified his decision to offer a draw in the 12th classical game on Monday despite having a superior position — refusing to take the risk of going for a win and staking his title on his ability to outplay Caruana in speed chess.
That draw offer had been harshly criticized by other top grandmasters, including chess legend Garry Kasparov, who called it “shocking.” Another former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, said it was “absurd”.
But Carlsen said he had no regrets.
“Based on my chances today it was correct. As for the opinions of Garry and Vlad, they’re entitled to their stupid opinions, that’s all I can say,” Carlsen said. “I understand that that’s not the mindset that everybody wants, but that’s what I felt gave me the best chance of winning the match.”
Carlsen pockets 550,000 euros ($621,000) for the win while Caruana gets 450,000 euros ($508,000).